The Legal 500

This section covers sovereign, corporate and institutional notes, bonds and hybrids/convertibles. New issuance dried up in late 2008, but advice on restructuring, liquidity management and exchange offers has been much in demand. Investment grade deals are recovering, but emerging markets deals lag behind. Firms reliant on high volumes of new issuance have suffered the most.

‘Top investment grade firm’ Allen & Overy LLP has a group of ‘dependable, knowledgeable and hard-working’ partners, notably Boyan Wells, Stephen Miller, Jonathan Mellor, Jonathan Melton, Matthew Hartley and US-qualified lawyers Bart Capeci and Daniel Epstein. Noted for its ‘accurate, reliable and commercial advice’, the team has been busy with UK government guarantee schemes, liability management, and corporate issues. Combined issuer and manager work in 2008 totalled 540 deals, worth US$377bn.

Linklaters LLP is undoubtedly a top-tier practice, having ‘the deepest bench in this product area’. For standalone debt, EMTN programmes, convertibles, emerging markets, liability management and commercial paper, it is a premier firm. It advised Rio Tinto Finance on a US$5bn note, while banking clients include UBS, ING, Lloyds Banking Group and Fortis. UK lawyers including Carson Welsh, Richard Levy, Jane Brown and Ben Dulieu combine with a strong team of US-qualified partners, and ‘turn matters around more quickly than the competition’.

Clients value the ‘immediate response and intellectual firepower’ of Clifford Chance partners such as David Dunnigan, David Bickerton and John Connolly. The client-focused team has been busy with government guarantee schemes, liability management, and project bonds. Refinancings by BAA and Thames Water stand out among its innovative deals.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP is ‘better placed to act for corporates than other players’. Corporate clients include mining company Xstrata, but advising on the debt elements of BAA’s £13bn UK airports refinancing, and acting for Alpha Bank on the Hellenic Republic’s €500m issue indicate the breadth of the practice. The team features partners such as Mark Trapnel, Stephen Revell, Monica McConville and Julian Makin, and is ‘very commercial, very impressive’, with ‘excellent knowledge’.

Clients are ‘very impressed with the excellent advice and transaction management’ at Ashurst LLP. ‘Outstanding lawyers’ Adrian Clarke, Gonzalo Fernandez and Anna Delgado are ‘responsive, pragmatic, very effective at finding workable solutions’. The team acts for managers and issuers, with recent clients including Bank of America, ANZ, Crédit Suisse, and South Staffordshire Water.

‘A great firm’, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP’s London team is often underwriter counsel for investment grade issues; recent deals include offerings by BP, Deutsche Telekom, GlaxoSmithKline and Tesco. Simon Ovenden and Pierre-Marie Boury are praised for their ‘in-depth experience of liability management’. London partners John Palenberg and Daniel Braverman spend time in Cologne and Moscow respectively, leveraging the firm’s international office network.

Slaughter and May’s Marc Hutchinson and Matthew Tobin advised HM Treasury on the UK’s £250bn Credit Guarantee Scheme, while other recent sovereign work includes the Government of Romania’s €750m offering. The firm’s multi-specialist finance team advises many corporate issuers; recent highlights include its innovative work on convertibles for 3i Group.

Francis Fitzherbert-Brockholes heads a White & Case LLP practice focused on innovative deals, particularly in nascent markets, acting for the likes of Citigroup, Crédit Suisse and ABN AMRO. ‘Bright, personable, diligent’ partners such as Stuart Matty and Carter Brod are accessible and involved. Russian pipeline operator Transneft’s US$1.8bn issue featured in late 2008.

Clients and peers note Baker & McKenzie LLP for its global reach. Simon Porter is known for convertibles, and his work in the Middle East and CIS. Christopher Hogan and Roy Pearce advised on Michelin Luxembourg’s €2bn MTN programme.

Herbert Smith LLP’s team features Jake Jackaman and Charles Howarth, and also Peter Epp and Dina Albagli on the structured notes side, especially in emerging markets. Highlight deals included EDF’s £12.5bn takeover of British Energy, which included an issuance of Nuclear Power Notes.

At Lovells LLP, Andrew Carey advised Badr Al Islami on Tamweel’s AED1.1bn sukuk, while US securities law expert Katherine Mulhern advised brewer SAB Miller on its US$1.25bn bond. Clients also value Kit Johnson’s trustee work.

Banks and corporates rate Norton Rose LLP as ‘amongst the best in the sector for understanding, response time and value for money’, noting ‘consistently outstanding commitment to swift action’ from ‘bright, dedicated’ partners such as Tak Matsuda, Farmida Bi, Dean Naumowicz and Laurence Garside.

Liability management, US corporate bonds, central bank liquidity deals, and US MTN programmes for European banks have kept Sidley Austin LLP busy. The firm is notable for its experience in convertibles, and recently handled a renminbi-based deal for Country Gardens Holdings. Craig Chapman has a strong practice for Australian issuers, while Mark Walsh, David Howe, John Russell and Hugh Frame stand out for European work.

Simmons & Simmons got some MTN programmes away in late 2008, with Ian Sideris advising arranger JPMorgan Chase on one of the first FDIC-guaranteed bonds. The firm also advised managers including RBS on notes under Centrica’s US$4bn EMTN programme, and advised on the Republic of Lithuania’s sovereign issue. Clients appreciate the high level of partner involvement, with Jonathan Hammond noted for his work for banks as arrangers and trustees, and David Roylance for his experience in hybrids.

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (UK) LLP has six London partners handling debt and equity work. Danny Tricot is experienced in emerging markets work, and recently advised on a US$3bn issue for the State of Qatar. Clients pick out James Healy for UK law and Richard Ely on US law, and Pranav Trivedi is also recommended.

Issuer clients praise CMS Cameron McKenna LLP partners Jason Harding, Will Dibble and Roy Griggs for project bonds, on which the firm advises clients such as Aspire Defence. It advised The Wellcome Trust on its second major bond issue.

Acting mainly for corporates, Denton Wilde Sapte LLP’s ‘personable, immensely knowledgeable team’ gives ‘clear, logical, reliable advice’ on deals such as Israel Electric Corporation’s US$1bn note. David Cohen, Matthew Sapte, James Curtis and the ‘unflappable’ Jayesh Patel are ‘helpful and easy to communicate with’.

Camille Abousleiman, Joseph Ferraro, Fabio Pizzoccheri and Ugo Giordano are among Dewey & LeBoeuf’s London partners; they give ‘answers that are understandable and to the point’. Clients include Deutsche Bank and the Government of Georgia.

Gide Loyrette Nouel LLP ‘responds quickly, directly and consistently’. Christopher Czarnocki recently advised on a US$175m convertible bond for Afren plc and a €200m multi-tranche project finance facility for the EBRD.

The highly rated Tracy Edmonson’s move to the London office of Latham & Watkins boosts Lene Malthasen’s team, which acts for corporates, banks, sovereign issuers, underwriters and trustees. Michael Immordino’s Italian and Spanish practice also stands out.

Jeremy Willcocks builds on Arnold & Porter (UK) LLP’s renowned international practice for sovereign issues with advice to corporates issuers such as Israel Electric Corporation.

At Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP, Marc Palley, Mark Daley and debt specialist Tom Church have active corporate clients such as Tesco.

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP’s Philip Boeckman handled 22 investment grade offerings in 2008, totalling US$47.2bn, including 15 deals for the European Investment bank. He also represented BAT International Finance on a US$1bn offering.

Jones Day acted on Veolia Environnement’s US$1.8bn US public offering, and is also experienced in restructuring and debt buybacks. Andrew Chen and Giles Elliott stand out.

‘You can count on them for innovative solutions’, say clients of K&L Gates. The ‘client-focused, commercial and personable’ Andrew Petersen and Trevor Beadle advise clients such as Blackrock.

Mayer Brown International LLP’s Drew Salvest advised Technikabank on the first international offering by an Azerbaijani issuer. The team is noted for its responsiveness, with the ‘personable, polite, calm and good humoured’ John Taylor standing out.

Strong bank connections feed Morrison & Foerster (UK) LLP London office, which also has an active debt trading practice for commercial loans and distressed debt.

Weil, Gotshal & Manges recently advised Willis Group on the private placement of US$500m senior notes.